The Notebook
by lizzie1994
Summary: One shot. No relations to movie. Poor Chloe and Derek. Can't get any alone time with Aunt Lauren always hovering over them. Tori steps in, giving the couple a world they can share at any moment.


**Author's Note: Thank you all for reviewing One Night. Keep at it please :) Here's another one shot. No relations to the movie, at all. Again, please let me know any ideas about Finally. Otherwise, the story will go onto hiatus. Let me know more ideas for one shots, also :)**

CPOV

I wanted to see my dad. It had been a week after we fought the Edison Group, and I still haven't been able to contact my dad. Everything was just been building up. From raising Mrs. Enright and killing Davidoff, to being possessed by Dr. Banks, to not being able to be alone with Derek _at all_, and then having Aunt Lauren constantly around me; trying to make me feel better about the whole Davidoff thing, only reminding me over and over about it and then not letting me alone with Derek. Perhaps, if I could just call my dad, then maybe some of this stress would be gone.

Everyone except Tori had gone out; we were currently in Tennessee, and getting ready to leave again. Our goal was to head to Arizona, trying to avoid traveling in a straight line. I was packing the few clothes I had, and Tori flopped on the bed.

"Why isn't wolf boy here?"

I sighed. "Aunt Lauren insisted that he should go and help pick out food, or whatever. You know, the usual."

Tori rolled her eyes. "It's so stupid. I don't know why she can't just let you guys hang out alone, for like, an hour."

I laughed. "Welcome to my world." Though I felt bad about talking about Aunt Lauren this way, I couldn't deny that I desperately needed time with Derek.

"You would think by now she would get that Derek isn't going to do anything horrible, or whatever she thought. I mean, even _I _get it."

I knew Tori was right. Aunt Lauren still thought that Derek was dangerous. Even after all of the things that Derek did to help protect both of us, Aunt Lauren still thought that Derek would end up hurting me.

I clenched my teeth, trying to avoid becoming angry. Hopefully Derek hadn't picked up on Aunt Lauren's behavior, because if he did, then he would end up pulling back, thinking that she was right.

"Hey, I've got a plan. But you will owe me for a long, long time."

I closed my backpack, and looked over at Tori. "What would that be?"

She smiled. "I'll come up with some excuse to sit with Lauren. Something that she won't be able to refuse. So that way, you can sit with your Prince Charming for a good, long ride."

I thought about it, and slowly began to smile. "You are such an evil mastermind."

Tori gave a wicked grin. "I've learned from the best."

After the planning was all done, I was in an extremely good mood. I hurried and jumped in the shower and brushed my teeth once more before everyone got back. Even though Derek's seen (and smelled) me at my worst, I still felt like I needed to gussy up. I even used up the last of the hotel lotion on my hands and legs. I did anything I could to feel like a normal girl getting ready to hang out with her boyfriend.

Finally, everyone got back. Simon and Derek nearly ran through the door, pained looks on both of their faces.

"Remind us to never go shopping with your aunt again, Chloe," Simon said, acting as though he was going to faint. "She had us running all over the stores." He threw himself down on the couch, an arm over his forehead.

"You boys have to work up some stamina," I joked. Derek looked over at me, and seeing my smile, gave a half smile of himself. A blush rose to my cheeks, and Derek's gentle smile turned into a smirk. I rolled my eyes.

Aunt Lauren and Kit came walking through the door.

"Alright everybody! Are we ready to hit the road?" Kit asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Lauren, can I talk to you?" Tori asked, acting shy. I nearly laughed, and winked at Derek.

"Well of course, Tori," Aunt Lauren said, and they walked to the corner of the room. I walked over to Derek.

"What's that all about?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. We were nice and close to each other, a couple inches between us.

"Tori came up with an evil plan so that we could have some time together," I whispered, explaining. Derek's face brightened, and one of his hands reached out to mine. Our fingers entwined, and butterflies paraded through my stomach. "Besides, I need to talk to you."

The look on his face gave me a stab through the chest. "No, no, no. Just about everything that's happened. Like Davidoff and things like that." I really need to start rewording my statements better than I have been. Derek gave my hand a quick squeeze. He looked over at Tori and Aunt Lauren, and bit back a laugh.

"What was that all about?" I asked, wanting in.

He shook his head. "Let's just say that Tori got her way. I'll tell you in the van."

Finally. A nice long drive with Derek. And maybe if I am lucky (well luckier, anyways) we'll get the backseat. Not that we'd make out or anything; only in private. But the things that I need to talk about with him were not something I wanted everyone else to hear too.

After everything was loaded in the van, everyone piled in. Kit and Simon took the front seat as usual, and Aunt Lauren was sure to take the back seat. Tori handed me a bag, and whispered, "For the car ride," as she walked by. I gave her a look, not understanding. Derek took a seat besides me, and we both buckled in.

"The next stop we are going to take will be in West Virginia, hopefully. Maybe on the outskirts of this place. I'm estimating about four hours, so we'll take a pit stop about half way." Kit explained as he started the van. We were all checked out (fake names of course) and were hitting the road again.

I opened the bag, almost afraid to know what was in it. A big sigh of relief escaped me. A notebook and two pens. I flipped open the notebook, and began to write.

_Aren't you glad I brought Tori now?_

I handed the notebook to Derek. He read it quickly, and a smile tugged at his lips. He took the other pen, and wrote back.

**She has her moments.**

I held back a laugh. Derek hesitated, and then wrote something else down.

**What's been bothering you? You're all stressed out, all the time.**

My good mood had been killed. _A lot of stuff. Aunt Lauren keeps bringing up the whole Davidoff situation, and I really just want to forget about it._

His eyebrows furrowed. **What is she saying?**

_That none of it was my fault, without me we wouldn't have made it out, stuff like that. But I killed him. Even if I didn't pull the trigger physically myself, I still controlled the person who did._

**Remember how you always said that being a necromancer was sort of a weakness? How everyone else had to do stuff for you? Well now you aren't the damsel in distress. You can take care of yourself, and everyone around you. If you hadn't told Enright to kill him, who knows? We all could be dead or separated. **

I read over his words slowly. _Maybe...It's just hard to grasp. I killed that guy. I don't want to sound like a little spoiled brat, but it's still really hard for me to really come to terms with it._

**Why would you sound like a spoiled brat?**

_Because I'm whining about something that had to be done. It's over with, and I should be too._

**You have reason to whine. I can understand where you're coming from.**

And in all honesty, I had completely forgotten about Liam. Derek was in the same exact boat I was, yet I was the only one who knew about it. Great. Now I felt even more horrible than I had in the beginning.

_How are you coping with it?_

**In all honestly? **He waited for me to nod. **I'm not doing that well. I just keep picturing how Simon or my dad would react if they found out. Who knows? Maybe it would give your Aunt Lauren just the reason she needed to send me to the Pack or whatever.**

My knuckles tightened around the pen. _She won't do that. Because where you go, I'll go. _As pathetic as it seems, it must've took me around five minutes to write that. Feelings were a hard thing for me to deal with. My dad and I, we never really exchanged our feelings, and the only person who I really talked to about that kind of stuff was with my mom. So the few talks I've had about my feelings were mostly with Aunt Lauren or Derek. And I've only known him for maybe a month and a half.

I handed the notebook slowly to Derek, carefully gadging his reaction. He read it slowly, and maybe a couple times. Perhaps he didn't understand my feelings for him. Just thinking about him leaving is painful.

He wrote slowly, then scribbled something out, and then rewrote it. It took him even longer than it had for me to respond, and my thoughts went from optimistic to pessimistic. _Maybe he thinks I'm too clingy, or we're going too fast or- _

He handed me the notebook, carefully watching my face. I read the words he had wrote, and read them again. It must have took me four times before they sank in.

**I won't ever leave you, Chloe. Not if I can help it.**

A smile spread across my lips, and I desperately wished that we weren't all crammed into a small van. There were so many romantic things that I wanted to say, half of which I used to mock and the other half Derek wouldn't believe I was capable of. But I wasn't brave enough, nor did I feel was it the right time and place. Instead of writing anything down, I carefully closed the notebook and set it in the pocket on the chair in front of me. I leaned against Derek's arm, and he lifted it up, draping it over my shoulders. Aunt Lauren had stopped talking (about what, I still wasn't sure) and was completely silent. Tori started up another conversation quickly. Both of my hands were swallowed by Derek's. Maybe this car trip wouldn't be so bad after all.


End file.
